STOWE – Cody Vasek went fly fishing Tuesday morning at Miller Brook in Stowe. He didn't catch anything, but he said the fishing was therapeutic.

"The ripples in the water and those songs birds," said Vasek, executive chef at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe. "The one-two punch, I'm hooked."

After fishing, Vasek trimmed his mohawk and got a pedicure.

Vasek announced his Tuesday plans on Monday night in Trapp's dining room, where he delivered food to a table of three and anticipated his first day off in 16 days.

"I love the rush, I love the hours, I love the heat. I'm in love with food," Vasek said Tuesday. ... "Sometimes I run the food. I can't have food sit if there's no food runner."

One of the diners in the Monday threesome was Avery Rifkin, chef/co-owner of Stone Soup in Burlington. Rifkin was on a high-altitude food outing with the Burlington Free Press.

He's usually seen in a black T-shirt at Stone Soup, sauteing vegetables and frying burgers in the kitchen, or up front pouring drinks and weighing plates of food.

Tuesday morning, while Vasek was fishing, Rifkin was making brisket at his restaurant. Monday night, he was a discerning patron in Sound of Music country.

"We'll take care of you when you get here," the maître d' told us when we telephoned to say we'd be about 15 minutes late.

More prescient words have perhaps never been spoken.

Climb the hills

Rattling up the hill to the lodge in an old blue Subaru, with George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" turned down on the stereo, it was impossible not to break into song: "The hills are alive ..."

Views from Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.
(Photo:
Courtesy of Trapp Family Lodge
)

This melodic cliche from "The Sound of Music," a musical based on the von Trapp family, is irresistible coming upon the view of the Worcester Range in fading October leaves, and light. The von Trapps, a family of singers, settled in Stowe in the early 1940s after escaping Nazi-occupied Austria. They opened their inn in 1950.

The resort, family owned and operated, encompasses 2,500 acres. It has 60 miles of cross country ski trails, a brewery and bakery, and a German-style restaurant run by Vasek, a Texan who worked in New York City with big-time restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Another Trapp asset is Christian Holder, a waiter from France who lives in Waterbury and wishes he were in Australia or Hong Kong.

Holder busted me. The showdown occurred sometime after we ordered our food and before the meal came.

"Are you a chef?" Holder asked, when he saw me taking notes.

No, I said.

Holder peered from on high at damning evidence on my lap: pen and paper. By his very presence, Holder appeared to demand more. I felt like Captain von Trapp was blowing his whistle at me.

I work at a newspaper, I told Holder. He spread the word.

Although Rifkin's chef identity remained under wraps through our pleasurable and well-paced meal, his dining companions were unveiled: photographer Ryan Mercer and reporter me.

To a degree, the revelation liberated us. My pad came off my lap and onto the table. Rifkin got in on the act: "Shoot quick!" he told Ryan. "I'm going to dig in."

I gave Ryan no such warning, eating my pumpkin ravioli with such speed and delight it was gone before he could photograph it.

The disclosure that the press was on the premises might have added a little heat in the kitchen. We got some extra attention in the dining room (treated like kings and queens, Rifkin said). When my jacket slipped off the back of my chair, someone picked it up and put it back before I knew it was gone. Vasek popped out from the kitchen a few times.

On his high-energy visits, Vasek thanked us for coming, treated us to pomegranate-molasses-glazed quail stuffed with brioche and currants, and bid us good cheer.

(Cheers to you, Cody!)

Appetizing choices

Vasek, 35, added a dash of youth to the dining room, where our middle-aged group was on the young side of the crowd.

He and his crew fed two busloads of tourists among the scores of diners they served Monday night. One set arrived in a coach marked seniortours.com.

Holder told us early on (before the bust) that no locals eat at the resort.

"We only have tourists," he said. "I don't know why. Maybe they don't want to come up the hill."

I would suggest that coming up the hill could be reason No. 1 to dine at Trapp Family Lodge.

If the dining room feels a bit like a retirement community, take a look outside. Gorgeous isn't too strong a word. The air and view kick you into youthful vigor. The von Trapp place is Alpsy.

The Negroni ($10) made with Bombay gin (no Barr Hill) is reason No. 1 ½, squeezing in ahead of pumpkin ravioli and apple salad only because of the order in which it arrived.

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Local apple salad at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe received praise from chef Avery Rifkin of Stone Soup in Burlington. “The apples are pristine,’’ Rifkin said. “The lettuce is pristine.”(Photo: RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS)

"On the money," Rifkin said of the cocktail, drinking in his surroundings.

Surroundings are big for Rifkin, whose autumn decorations at Stone Soup on College Street — pumpkins, gourds, dry grasses and hay bales — are a city version of the von Trapp mountain scene.

Rifkin had a little something to say about the setting at the resort: The size of the table was right-on, roomy yet conducive to good conversation. The flowers and candle add a nice touch. Trees planted outside the dining room windows obscure the view. Holder the waiter is a professional.

"I love an engaging waiter, especially at a high-end restaurant," Rifkin said, before turning his commentary to the menu.

"I'm usually more impressed by appetizers, here I'm more impressed by the entrees," he said. "There's a few that move me."

I tried to guess what those might be, and scored zero.

Cauliflower risotto with autumn vegetables. Wrong! and I should've known better. Although Stone Soup serves a colorful and flavorful array of vegetable dishes, Rifkin mans a first-rate meat outfit in his kitchen with burgers, brisket, BLTs.

How about the quail? I wondered. Rifkin told me I was "way off."

"Quail is too bony, too small," he said.

Maybe, but Rifkin gamely ate the kitchen's gift of quail in the coming hour, when he could steal it from me. I handled the size and bone dilemma with ease: Eating the bird with my fingers.

Rifkin was intrigued by the beef cheeks. The pork belly with shrimp also turned him on (pigs raised at Trapp's farm). Photographer Mercer's pick — the brisket — drew a nod of approval from Rifkin.

As for schnitzels, I'd been writing on them — little bits of paper — while we sipped our Negronis. It's only because Rifkin had so much to say that I ditched my schnitzels for a true pad of paper: Then I was busted.

In the case of my food, schnitzel meant something like breaded, sauteed veal cutlet — schnitzely layers of meat. The meal comes with noodles (called spatzle). From Vasek's kitchen you can order it with mushroom sauce.

Based on what I learned about the pumpkin ravioli, I'm pretty sure my order was not dressed up when the kitchen learned newspaper people were in the house. This dish has wowed eaters who came before us, including the chef's wife.

"It's beautiful," Vasek said. "My wife's in love with it. I met her nine years ago, a hostess at Jean-Georges in Houston. I gave her the ravioli and that's all it took."

The brisket was beautiful and tender, too, with the mountain price tag of $34. (On College Street, Rifkin sells it for $15.) The beef cheeks ($33) had less fat than advertised, I think this was a plus (check with Rifkin). They were served with one of my favorite things: German-style red cabbage. Vasek nailed his version.

Holder paired our meat dishes with a glass of red wine. While I liked the brisket and beef cheeks better than my Wiener schnitzel ($32), I scored with the house Pinot Noir ($10.50).

Vasek sent out a round of desserts, highlighted by pear bruschetta with rosemary ice cream. However, a few days after the event, I recall with fondness the lager-laced ice cream sundae.

The chef appeared from the kitchen one more time and we talked a bit. Vasek mentioned his plan for fly fishing in the morning, his haircut and pedicure. He said he loved Vermont, and hoped we enjoyed our food.

"Somebody's out there with pen and paper, I got to kill it," Vasek said, describing the flow of his night. "And the tour buses coming in."

Rifkin wanted to end the occasion with single malt Scotch, and sweet-talked his way into a special order: half a shot each of Lagavulin and Laphroaigh.

"We're coming into the season for single malts," Rifkin said. "I haven't touched them since April. It's something I would tend to drink in cooler weather by the fireplace, with a good joint."

Contact Sally Pollak at spollak@burlingtonfreepress.com or 660-1859. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vtpollak